Anime like Tsuru no Ongaeshi

Okonjoururi

Studio: NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy

The 25 minute film tells the tale of an ailing elderly woman named Itako who encounters a fox named Okon.

The story opens with Itako lying bedridden, as she has for a long time. Okon enters her home and Itako tells the fox that he is welcome to take anything that he wants, for she has no use for anything anymore. Okon is delighted and in order to return the favour (the act of ongaeshi), Okon performs a magic jyōruri (a ballad with shamisen accompaniment) that heals Itako so that she is fit enough to walk again. Everyone is surprised by Itako's sudden recovery. She then hears of a hunter who has been badly injured and is near death. Itako hides Okon in the back of her shirt and has the fox sing the song while she plays shamisen in order to heal the man. This act of kindness is repeated for others until Itako's good fortune leads some to be suspicious of her.


Tags: Mythology , Animals , Stop Motion , Witch , Shapeshifting , Rehabilitation , Musical Theater , Anthropomorphism

Kaguya-hime (1961)

Studio: Gakken
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy

Stop-motion short-film narrating the fairytale of princess kaguya.

Tags: Classic Literature , Stop Motion , Historical , Kids , Female Protagonist

Uriko-hime to Amanojaku

Studio: Dentsu
Status: Finished
Genres:

Japan's first puppet animation directed by Mochinaga Tadahito and Tanaka Yoshitsugu.

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Shisha no Sho

Also known as The Book of the Dead.

Studio: SLOW TIDE
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Supernatural

When a young noblewoman, Iratsume, falls into a trance after copying Buddhist sutras and walks to a remote temple that women are forbidden to enter, she stirs up the ghost of the executed Prince Otsu. Otsu's ghost then mistakes Iratsume for one of her ancestors, a young woman who came to watch his execution. The beautiful face of this young woman was the last thing the Prince saw before he died, and his ghost cannot rest while her face haunts his sleep.

Tags: Puppetry , Stop Motion , Ghost

Kasa Jizou

Studio: Gakken
Status: Finished
Genres: Fantasy

An adaptation of the Kasa Jizou folktale where Jizou statues reward an elderly couple for giving them hats (kasa) to wear during the snowy weather.

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Kaguya-hime no Monogatari

Also known as The Tale of The Princess Kaguya.

Studio: Studio Ghibli
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Romance

Okina is a bamboo cutter in ancient rural Japan. One day in the forest, he finds a tiny baby in the folds of a bamboo shoot. He brings the creature home to his wife Ounaa and they decide to keep her and raise her as a princess. She is clearly not of this world. Kaguya grows at an unnatural rate, soon maturing into an uncommonly beautiful young woman. Since Okina has now also found a cache of gold and treasure in the forest, every suitor wants Kaguya. But this is not a fairy tale of courtship and marriage.



Tags: Philosophy , Classic Literature , Tragedy , Fairy Tale , Female Protagonist , Historical , Family Life , Rural , Religion , Gods , Primarily Adult Cast , Amnesia , Travel , Adoption , Agriculture , Unrequited Love , Heterosexual , Environmental , Calligraphy

Chironup no Kitsune

Studio: Group TAC
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

Based on the novel "Chironup no Kitsune (Foxes of Chironup)" by Hiroyuki Takahashi.

Tags: Tragedy , Rural , Animals , Historical , Guns , Ships , Survival